You know how you can go through all sorts of odd maneuvers in your life and not understand you own decisions?  And then one day something happens and you think, "THIS is why I had to go through that.  So I could find my way here."  This piece is one of those gestalt moments for me.  A culmination of years of artistic and spiritual work.

This painting was at various times a still life, a dog painting, and a sunny day.  It refused to behave.  I worked and worked and worked and this piece would not come together.  I swore and grumbled and sighed and called a friend to complain.  I wanted to give up on this one but I couldn't.  As is so often the case, a miserable time led to triumph.  Storms is easily one of the best paintings I have ever done.  To me a least.  I am a recovering control freak and this piece highlights my hard-won ability to let loose, paint free and express myself with abandon (and with my fingers!).  It also contains a single well-hidden phrase that continues my interest in combining language and art.  The phrase which is almost lost in the dark clouds reads, "Return to what you have always known".  Storms also suggests my lifelong interest in storytelling and my love for simple prairie landscapes.  Nearly all of my artistic interest have come together in this one vibrant, dramatic finger-painting. 

This painting sums up many years of spiritual work as well. When I look at these clouds, they scare me a little.  They seem ominous and foreboding.  But I live in a part of the Midwest where drought has devastated our farmers and where storm clouds like these are the answer to many prayers.  The other day, I was talking with my mother and in the course of touching on the still open wound of September 11th, I realized that I owe this time of creative passion to that ugly, heart wrenching day.  I doubt that I would have made the leap that brought me here were I not torn apart and remind of my mortality in that lasting way.  So this painting is a reminder that nothing is wholly dark or wholly light and that blessings and curses are only a matter of perspective. 

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